Social cohesion in Gauteng

Social cohesion in Gauteng PDF Author: Richard Ballard
Publisher: Gauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO)
ISBN: 0639911463
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Increasing attacks on foreigners, including in April 2015, along with a succession of widely publicised incidents of racism, have triggered a new round of soul-searching in South Africa. Why, after the comprehensive defeat of apartheid and its ideology, does prejudice seem so intractable? What kinds of interventions could help reduce these troubling events? How can society be made more ‘cohesive’? Suggestions about what to do in the face of these challenges are sometimes speculative and wishful. They consist of appeals to the better nature of ordinary people, or an assumption that the feel good moments of the democratic transition can be re-enacted to bind everyone together. Calls for social cohesion and tolerance seem often to dodge the complex vicious cycles that lead to the instances of intolerance that erupt in the media or in communities. This Research Report centres on better understanding the current dynamics of social cohesion in Gauteng. It tackles five guiding questions, each of which corresponds to a chapter: 1. How has social cohesion become a goal in post-apartheid South Africa, and what are the key limitations resulting from this understanding of social progress? 2. In a global context, how is social cohesion defined and what are the main contestations about this ideal of social change? 3. How do the respondents in the GCRO's Quality of Life IV (2015/16) survey respond to questions on levels of trust, claims to belonging by different race groups, and the place of migrants and gays and lesbians in Gauteng? 4. How have past and present initiatives to improve social cohesion conceived of the problem they are attempting to address, and what is their scale of intervention? 5. What are the various methodologies that have been used in past and present initiatives to improve social cohesion? A key premise of this research was that our society has an enormous accumulation of experience in trying to tackle anti-social interactions and to address social injustices that are, in various ways, shaped by race, class, nationality, gender, sexuality and other identities. The last two chapters of this report are based on a review of more than 60 social cohesion initiatives. They analyse the wide variety of actors involved in such work, the different ways in which they conceive of their objectives, and the different scales at which they operate. These actors pursue dozens of different methodologies including sports and dialogue, arts, psychology, urban design, and public campaigns. This dispersed capacity through society is important because it represents experience-based responses to the ways in which anti-social behaviour and social injustice are reproduced. In attempting to determine a programme of action, we argue that we should learn from and extend existing and past attempts to tackle these difficulties.

Social cohesion in Gauteng

Social cohesion in Gauteng PDF Author: Richard Ballard
Publisher: Gauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO)
ISBN: 0639911463
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Get Book Here

Book Description
Increasing attacks on foreigners, including in April 2015, along with a succession of widely publicised incidents of racism, have triggered a new round of soul-searching in South Africa. Why, after the comprehensive defeat of apartheid and its ideology, does prejudice seem so intractable? What kinds of interventions could help reduce these troubling events? How can society be made more ‘cohesive’? Suggestions about what to do in the face of these challenges are sometimes speculative and wishful. They consist of appeals to the better nature of ordinary people, or an assumption that the feel good moments of the democratic transition can be re-enacted to bind everyone together. Calls for social cohesion and tolerance seem often to dodge the complex vicious cycles that lead to the instances of intolerance that erupt in the media or in communities. This Research Report centres on better understanding the current dynamics of social cohesion in Gauteng. It tackles five guiding questions, each of which corresponds to a chapter: 1. How has social cohesion become a goal in post-apartheid South Africa, and what are the key limitations resulting from this understanding of social progress? 2. In a global context, how is social cohesion defined and what are the main contestations about this ideal of social change? 3. How do the respondents in the GCRO's Quality of Life IV (2015/16) survey respond to questions on levels of trust, claims to belonging by different race groups, and the place of migrants and gays and lesbians in Gauteng? 4. How have past and present initiatives to improve social cohesion conceived of the problem they are attempting to address, and what is their scale of intervention? 5. What are the various methodologies that have been used in past and present initiatives to improve social cohesion? A key premise of this research was that our society has an enormous accumulation of experience in trying to tackle anti-social interactions and to address social injustices that are, in various ways, shaped by race, class, nationality, gender, sexuality and other identities. The last two chapters of this report are based on a review of more than 60 social cohesion initiatives. They analyse the wide variety of actors involved in such work, the different ways in which they conceive of their objectives, and the different scales at which they operate. These actors pursue dozens of different methodologies including sports and dialogue, arts, psychology, urban design, and public campaigns. This dispersed capacity through society is important because it represents experience-based responses to the ways in which anti-social behaviour and social injustice are reproduced. In attempting to determine a programme of action, we argue that we should learn from and extend existing and past attempts to tackle these difficulties.

Social Cohesion in Gauteng

Social Cohesion in Gauteng PDF Author: Richard Ballard
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780639987309
Category : Gauteng (South Africa)
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description


Pale Ya Rona Gauteng Carnival as a Platform to Promote Social Cohesion

Pale Ya Rona Gauteng Carnival as a Platform to Promote Social Cohesion PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Carnival
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This research was devoted to the study of the Pale Ya Rona Gauteng Carnival. The study traces Pale Ya Rona Gauteng Carnival's origin from being an ordinary street parade to its transformation into a fully-fledged carnival. The carnival has developed into an event that brings together many diverse Gauteng communities to celebrate their cultural and traditional similarities and dissimilarities under the umbrella of artistic cultural expression and which signifies unity and a collective South African identity. The Gauteng Department of Arts and Culture (GDAC) has used this carnival event to contribute to sustainable economic development and enhance job creation by preserving, protecting, and developing South African arts, culture, and heritage to sustain a socially cohesive and democratic nation. The purpose of this research was to interrogate the apparent efficacy of inclusivity in the Pale Ya Rona Gauteng Carnival on how it promotes social cohesion. The approach identified as the most appropriate design for this investigation was a case study with data that came mainly from documentation, archival records, interviews, direct observations, participant observation, and physical artifacts. The method of investigation was that of qualitative research. I undertook an initial literary study. I surveyed the literature to determine aspects of social cohesion, as well as aspects and manifestations of the carnival. Pale Ya Rona Gauteng Carnival was established to create a platform where integrated arts and culture are promoted through carnival throughout the five regions of Gauteng province in order to promote healthy lifestyles and contribute towards building safe, secure and sustainable communities. However, the findings indicated that carnival participants were leaning mainly toward the AbaNguni and Basotho, VhaVenda and Vatsonga, and recently Coloured people, while other groups of South African people, who fall under the categories of White and Indian did not participate in the carnival.1.) I focus on the historical migration of people into South Africa, segregation, and apartheid. 2.) I analytically describe how the culturally diverse Gauteng communities are introduced to one another in the new South Africa. I describe how they meet, connect, and celebrate carnival parades through various performing arts genres, fine art, and artistically creative heritage craft. Art and crafts portray their stories from their respective regions and promote social cohesion. This research contributes to the historiographic, academic attention of the carnival event in Gauteng and the government's attempts to develop artistic skills and socially integrate Gauteng diverse communities through the arts into a unified, coherent society that shares a single identity as South Africans.

Nation Formation and Social Cohesion

Nation Formation and Social Cohesion PDF Author: The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection
Publisher: Real African Publishers
ISBN: 1920655727
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
The fieldwork and case studies contained in this book were gathered from one-on-one interviews with residents of four of South Africa's nine provinces (Western Cape, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng). To those living beyond the country's borders, it provides insights into their daily lives and details the problems, frustrations, and hopes of residents of some of the country's most conflicted areas.

An analysis of well-being in Gauteng province using the capability approach

An analysis of well-being in Gauteng province using the capability approach PDF Author: Darlington Mushongera
Publisher: Gauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO)
ISBN: 1990972101
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Book Description
The purpose of this occasional paper is to analyse well-being in Gauteng province from a capability perspective. The authors adopt a standard ‘capability approach’ consistent with Amartya Sen’s concept of capabilities.

E-Participation in Smart Cities: Technologies and Models of Governance for Citizen Engagement

E-Participation in Smart Cities: Technologies and Models of Governance for Citizen Engagement PDF Author: Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319894749
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
This book analyzes e-participation in smart cities. In recent decades, information and communication technologies (ICT) have played a key role in the democratic political and governance process by allowing easier interaction between governments and citizens, and the increased ability of citizens to participate in the production chain of public services. E-participation plays and important role in the development of smart cities and smart communities , but it has not yet been extensively studied. This book fills that gap by combining empirical and theoretical research to analyze actual practices of citizen involvement in smart cities and build a solid framework for successful e-participation in smart cities. The book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses smart technologies and their role in improving e-participation in smart cities. Part II deals with models of e-participation in smart cities and the organization issues affecting the implementation of e-participation; these chapters analyze the efficiency of governance models in relation to the establishment of smart cities. Part III proposes incentives to motivate increased participation by governments and cititzenry within the smart cities context. Written by an international panel of experts and practitioners, this book will be a convenient source of information on e-participation in smart cities and will be valuable to academics, researchers, policy-makers, public managers, citizens, international organizations and anyone who has a stake in enhancing citizen engagement in smart cities.

Impact of Immigration and Xenophobia on Development in Africa

Impact of Immigration and Xenophobia on Development in Africa PDF Author: Mafukata, Mavhungu Abel
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1799871010
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
Human movement has an influence on the socio-economic dynamics of people, regions, and countries. The schisms between host and immigrants impact how host countries utilize immigrant skills and expertise to benefit their economies. However, immigrants are impacted by negative diplomatic relations between countries that limit the free movement of people and the welfare of immigrants. In association, this brings about social challenges such as Afrophobia, racism, xenophobia, hatred, and violence within these countries. While these challenges are deeply rooted across the world, Africa has its own unique challenges. Still struggling with massive underdevelopment, Africa needs to remove all the negative factors that could impede its quest of achieving development imperatives. Impact of Immigration and Xenophobia on Development in Africa analyzes the genesis and evolution of immigration in Africa and how this has resulted in social challenges such as xenophobia within the continent. The book focuses on demonstrating how immigrant skills and expertise can be positively utilized to assist African development and asserts the existence of xenophobia in respective countries does not assist Africa’s quest of resolving its own challenges. The chapters within this book therefore explore how this subsequent output of xenophobia has impacted African development and focuses on the revival of Pan-Africanism as a uniting instrument and ideology for Africans. This book is a valuable reference tool for activists, retired and practicing politicians, governments, policymakers, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, students, and academicians.

Improving Quality of Life

Improving Quality of Life PDF Author: Ryan Merlin Yonk
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 1839688130
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
The authors of this volume provide a window into what influences the quality of life, why people live longer, and why we are relatively better off compared to decades ago. While the potential ways of measuring life quality are abundant, understanding what causes improvement requires careful study and consideration. This volume provides useful insight into these challenges and helps to highlight a clear and important separation between wellbeing and standard of living, both relevant to assessing the quality of life. Standard of living refers to the material welfare of a group. Wellbeing, on the other hand, encapsulates harder-to-measure subjective preferences. Together they help us to understand the quality of life of certain groups at specific times, and in specific communities.

OECD Territorial Reviews: The Gauteng City-Region, South Africa 2011

OECD Territorial Reviews: The Gauteng City-Region, South Africa 2011 PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264122842
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Against the backdrop of South Africa’s achievements since the fall of apartheid, this Review evaluates measures to position economic development policy and to confront economic inequality in the Johannesburg/Pretoria region.

Migration Conundrums, Regional Integration and Development

Migration Conundrums, Regional Integration and Development PDF Author: Inocent Moyo
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811524785
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
This book examines Africa-Europe relationships and intra-Africa relationships vis-à-vis migration. It analyses the African integration project that is being used to effectively manage migration within Africa and across its RECs, and harnessing it for development. The book presents debates related to the EU’s hardening and securitisation of its external border against migrants from Africa. It shows that migration actually challenges Africa-European relations, which is discussed as an important theme in this book. Authors in this book volume investigate several issues ranging from conundrums relating to migration between Africa and Europe to migration within Africa, but also in relation to borders and boundaries, its bearing on regional and continental integration and the significance of this in terms of relations between Africa and Europe. This book volume brings into conversation issues relating to the governance of migration for development, social cohesion and regional integration.